Against the Elements
by goodworthfightingfor31
Summary: Hiccup has been separated from Toothless and the Riders and is lost in the wilderness without his peg leg! Will he find Toothless and the other Riders? Will they find him? Setting is RTTE; Rated M for graphic injury descriptions and REFERENCES to sensuality and homosexuality.


AGAINST THE ELEMENTS

Air whooshed around him, sky and clouds in every direction as he tumbled end over end. His head spun, trying to figure out which direction was up, but the only constant was the pulling of down.

"TOOTHLESS!" he called. He swished is head in any direction, searching for his friend. He caught a glimpse of black, further above him.

"TOOTHLESS, HELP!" The Night Fury roared in response, but remained the same distance away.

Brown and green entered Hiccup's vision. _Land_. "TOOTHLESS!" he called again. He righted himself so he was belly down, only for grey rock to meet his vision, then everything went black.

Awareness surfaced. His head throbbed, little spikes of pain shooting across his head, his body stiff, numb, weighted.

Time seemed to drag as he forced his lids to open. Smeared colors focused into a ring of birch trees towering above him, late morning sunlight filtering through the yellow-green leaves.

He moved his fingers, brushing dirt and leaves, the deep dry scent catching his nose. A light breeze rustled the leaves above him, a few branches creaked.

The scent of rust caught his attention and a semi crusty feeling. He lifted his right hand, dragging it through molasses. A knife stabbed at the touch. He hissed, yanked his hand away, his fingertips smeared with drying blood.

_I have to get up_, he thought, _I have to get moving. _He shifted. The world around him spun. He gripped the ground, dirt clenched in his hands. He shut his eyes and moaned, breathing hard at the whirl of air in his ears, pain lacerating his skull. Darkness took over once more.

When he came to, he opened his eyes slowly. This time, strong afternoon sunlight pierced through the trees.

_I need to move_, he thought. Grunting, he inched, slowly rolling onto his side. He placed his hand against the dirt, steadying himself. He breathed hard, bracing himself, then rolled onto his stomach. Dizziness played with his vision. He lay motionless, hands pressed to the ground as he waited for the swimming to subside.

When it did, and he could think clearly, he cautiously slid his palms back until they were level with his chest, then shuffled his knees forward. He pushed himself up, grunting with exertion. His limbs shook as he stood on hands and knees. He tilted to the left, moving turtle slow as he righted himself to a sitting position, his head threatening to spin out of control.

He grunted relief as he achieved the position, but his heart dropped in despair as he looked at his feet.

His peg leg was gone.

Hiccup hung his head in his hands, wincing at the dizzy onset from the sudden movement. "Oh, gods," he whimpered.

He slowly lifted his head, and scanned his surroundings. Underbrush littered the copse, birch trunks standing tall and straight. Hiccup spied a fallen branch large enough to use as a crutch about eight feet away.

Hiccup took a deep breath and gently moved back onto his hands and knees, pausing—tense—as a wave of lightheadedness swept him. When the wave subsided, he shuffle-crawled towards the branch, dirt and leaves sliding crunching beneath him.

He gripped the branch, fingers wrapped tightly around, and pulled it to him. He stuck one end in the ground; it was just about his height. Bringing his other hand around, Hiccup sank back onto his knees, and gripped the stick.

Taking a bracing breath, he pulled himself up. He grunted, fighting the pain in his head, shuffling his good leg ever forward until he finally stood upright. He breathed hard, leaning his weight against it.

"Now, to move forward," he said to himself.

Holding tight, he moved his makeshift crutch forward, reeling with vertigo. Waiting until he was steady once more, he shuffled forward, first the crutch, then his right foot. _Draaag-thunk. Draaag-thunk. Draaag-thunk._

The dragging sound shifted to a scrape as the topography changed from earth to rock. Hiccup hobbled out of the birch copse to find himself stranded high in the mountains.

Wind-smoothed rock trailed from beneath him and rose high into clefts and cliffs, interspersed with scrub, lichens and pines. He looked about; trees stretched all the way to the horizon, undulating with the hills. There was no sign of the ocean anywhere. He was much further inland than he thought. _How far inland am I?_

Destruction glared. Thick pines, oaks, and birches snapped in two scarred a zig-zag through the hills, as if something large had crash landed.

_Toothless!_ Hiccup thought, _If I can find him, we'll be able to get out of here. _

Hiccup looked to his right and, seeing a scalable cliff, awkwardly hobbled over, lightheadedness fading in and out.

He stopped at the cliff's base, panting, squinted and peered up the face, searching for hand and footholds. There were just enough to get to the hill above, but the question was, what would he find at the top?

Hiccup cupped his hands over his mouth. "TOOTHLESS!" he called, "TOOTHLESS, WHERE ARE YOU?"

The Night Fury's familiar roar reached him, sounding from behind the cliff. His heart lifted. "HANG ON, BUD, I'M COMING!"

Hiccup took a step forward, lost his balance and fell to the left, his staff snapping beneath him, dust and gravel scraping his palms. He mentally kicked himself. "Damn, my leg!" he swore. He looked up at the cliff again. He could still see a way up, but without his peg leg…it would be a brutal climb.

Hiccup sighed, grabbed hold of jutting pine roots and pulled himself up. He paused, gripping the roots as a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him. He pressed his body to the cliff face to steady himself. He groaned, panted as it ebbed.

Slow and with care, Hiccup placed his hands in the cracks above him, braced his left knee against the face, stuck his right foot in a hold and pulled himself up. His climbing was off-kilter; without his peg leg, he had to grip with his knee, forcing his good leg to find footholds faster and his arms as well. With each new grip, pain shot through his head, reminding him to slow down, but his left knee could only hold his weight for so long.

As the afternoon waned, sunlight shining shafts of gold through the clouds, Hiccup reached the edge of the top of the cliff; arms and leg shaking with exertion from the climb, his left knee scraped and bruised, stinging with each turn of pressure.

Hiccup reached up and grabbed hold of an overhanging pine branch, and pulled, pushing with his knees, slowly rolled over the edge and onto the top, dust and grit peppering his lips and tongue. He rolled onto his back and heaved, grateful to be still once more.

A warbled cry sounded from behind him, and directly below.

"I'm here, Bud!" he assured. Toothless chuffed in response.

Hiccup rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled to the opposite edge.

Toothless lay below on a narrow outcrop. He trilled with happiness at the sight of his friend. A slim shelf lay betwixt them, mostly dust, a few scrub bushes, and a scraggly lone pine.

Hiccup's heart sank. Toothless's makeshift tail fin was completely gone. No way would they be flying out tonight.

"You alright, Bud?" he called. Toothless whined, looked at his tail, then up at him. "I've been better too," he continued.

Hiccup carefully turned around, and slowly inched his legs over the edge. He stuck his foot into a crack, gently lowered himself, bracing his left knee against the cliffside.

Without warning, his knee slipped. His chin smacked cliff edge, pain rippling through his jaw. He scrambled to grasp the rocks, but missed, his fingertips brushing the edge a hairsbreadth too late.

He fell backwards. Pain shot through his good leg as his knee twisted and snapped, loosing his foot from its hold.

Breath left him as he hit the shelf. Pain rippled through his head as it bounced off the ground. He choked, his lungs gasping for air. His gasps changed into screams.

Pain weighted him to the ground. All he could do was lie there, screaming in agony until darkness overtook him.

Below him, Toothless screeched in concern, warble moaning when his Rider went silent. He attempted to fly to the shelf, to enclose his friend in his wings, but every time he reached the edge of the shelf, barely able to peer over, his lack of tail fin forced him back down. After multiple tries, Toothless curled up, stared at the narrow shelf above him, and whined.

Consciousness surfaced, fuzzy and heavy. Grit and dust rolled beneath his fingers. His head spun and was fused to the ground at the same time. Hiccup opened his eyes, vision focusing to reveal dark thunderheads above.

Wind gusted, brushing his hands, face, neck, hair, the scent wet. A raindrop plopped onto his cheek, snapping him to alert. He gasped at the sudden touch. Another drop fell, splatting onto his forehead.

"Great," Hiccup mumbled. He tried to shift, but vertigo kept him grounded, what was his good leg throbbing. A wave of nausea swept him. He jerked his head to the right and threw up, acid crawling up his throat.

"Toothless!" he croaked. The Night Fury warbled and whined. Hiccup turned his head at the sound of scuffling and flapping. The tip of Toothless' nose and a flash of his eyes crested the edge, only to disappear just as fast.

"I can't move!" Hiccup whimpered.

Lightning streaked across the sky, thunder cracked. Rain pelted down, heavy and cold.

Hiccup half moaned half sobbed as the rain pricked his face.

Rings of purple light streaked into the sky, then burst into a shimmering firework explosion. _Our distress signal_! Hiccup thought. His heart lifted. "Good job, Bud!" he called, "Keep at it!"

Determination surging, Hiccup attempted to move again. He slowly inched onto his right side, groaning, his head swimming, his good leg shrieking. He kept going until he flopped onto his stomach, mud spattering his face, getting into his mouth.

Hiccup spit mud and raised his head. Peering through the rain, he saw the edge of the shelf. He fought lightheadedness as he turned his head to look behind him.

There was a natural depression in the cliff wall, smooth rock.

Hiccup blinked away the rain. He reached out and grasped the ground. Grunting, pain shooting sharp down his leg, lightheadedness threatening to make him pass out, he pulled himself around until he faced the cliff wall.

Cold rain seeped through his tunic, his pants, sticking them to his skin, plastering his hair in his face.

Groaning through his pain, he dragged himself towards the rock depression, mud and water sloshing, leaking into the gaps in his leather armor, waves of wet running chill. When he reached the depression, he pulled himself up into a sitting position, grateful to lean his back and head against the smooth rock.

A gust of wind blew, spattering rain into his face. He may have been half sheltered from the rain, but not from the wind.

More rings of purple light shot into the sky, bursting into shimmery particles.

Hiccup moan sobbed as he thought of his friends. _Where are you?_ he thought.

_SOME HOURS LATER_

Astrid quickly scanned her surroundings as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Nothing. Just the endless sea of trees interspersed with jutting mountains. She grunted in frustration. "Where are they?"

"Astrid!"

She turned to see Tuffnut pointing northeast, where a shimmering burst of purple light broke the darkness.

"TOOTHLESS' PLASMA BLAST!" she yelled in relief. She urged Stormfly towards it, calling to the others to follow suit. Wind and rain beat against her face, the thrumming whoosh of flapping dragon wings keeping time to the drumming of her heart.

"THERE'S TOOTHLESS!" Fishlegs called as they reached the mountains. Lightning flashed, accompanied by a crack of thunder directly overhead. Toothless roared and pointed with his nose towards a slim shelf above him.

Astrid flew Stormfly to the shelf, but could not land; it was too narrow for a dragon. She dismounted, jumping from her saddle and onto the shelf. She found Hiccup sunk back against the cliff face.

"Hiccup!" she called. She ran to him, and knelt by him in the mud.

She caught her breath. His peg leg was gone, but worse was his good leg, now twisted into an awkward angle. The right side of his temple covered in dried blood, his clothes and face covered with dirt and mud. His arms were wrapped tightly around himself, and he shook from the cold.

Suddenly, Snotlout appeared at Hiccup's side. "Hiccup! What are you feeling?" he yelled.

"Cold…Numb…" he breathed. He gasped as he looked at his feet. "What happened to my leg?"

Astrid watched Snotlout's face drain. He looked directly at her. "WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT OF HERE, NOW!" he yelled over the rain, "I NEED YOUR HELP MOVING HIM, BUT WE NEED TO DO IT SLOWLY! IF WE MOVE HIM TOO QUICKLY HE WON'T MAKE IT!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?" Astrid yelled back.

"ENOUGH JORGENSEN'S HAVE DIED OF THIS FOR ME TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO HANDLE IT!"

She carefully followed Snotlout's instructions: together they lifted Hiccup, keeping him upright as if in a chair, and slowly inched towards the edge of the shelf.

He turned to face Fishlegs. "RIDE BACK TO BERK AND GET GOTHI! HICCUP'S GOOD LEG'S BUSTED AND HE'S SICK FROM THE COLD!"

Fishlegs nodded, urged Meatlug and flew off.

Astrid called for the Twins to rig a sling, and to carry Toothless back to the Edge.

Snotlout and Astrid gingerly loaded Hiccup onto Hookfang's saddle, who had flown to the edge of the shelf. Snotlout got on behind him. He turned to Astrid. "You fly to the Edge and get the fire in the main hall as hot and hard as you can, and get as many blankets as you can find! And dry clothes too!"

Astrid nodded, mounted Stormfly, and flew off. Shortly after, Hookfang burst into flames and sped away.

Astrid reached The Edge first. Dismounting, she rushed Stormfly into her stable, then ran into their main hall. She grabbed wood form the pile near the door, threw it into the fire, and pressed the billows to encourage the flames. When the fire roared, she rushed to the storeroom in the back where they kept emergency supplies, and pulled all the blankets available. Taking them back into main hall, she laid them around the fire, so they would be warm when Snotlout returned with Hiccup.

Luckily, Hiccup and Toothless lived in the loft section of the main hall. Astrid quickly ascended the stairs, found his trunk, and pulled out dry pants and a tunic.

The large doors to main hall opened as she descended the stairs, Snotlout dragged Hiccup through, his arm draped over Snotlout's shoulders, shaking visibly.

"Grab one of the warm blankets," Snotlout demanded as Astrid reached the foot of the stairs, "and pull the table next to the fire."

Astrid obeyed, despite his tone. In one swift movement she placed Hiccup's dry clothes by the fire, picked up a blanket, walked over to the table and pulled it to the fire, laying the warm blanket on top.

Snotlout slowly sat Hiccup on the edge of the table then laid him down. He fumbled with Hiccup's belt.

"What are you doing?!" Astrid demanded, her voice rising in panic.

"He has to be dry," Snotlout explained, "which means wet clothes have gotta come off. Grab his dry ones and take off his shirt."

Astrid didn't move.

Snotlout looked at her. "It's either the shirt or the pants, Blondie, make a choice!"

"But we'll see his—"

"Get the clothes!"

Astrid grabbed the warm, dry clothes, laying the pants within Snotlout's reach. She laid the fresh tunic next to her, tore Hiccup's wet tunic down the front, and gingerly pulled it off. She kept her gaze on Hiccup's face as she pulled the dry tunic over his head and his arms through the sleeves as Snotlout pulled off the pants and put on the dry ones.

Snotlout left the table, grabbed the kettle, filled it with water from the rain barrel, and placed it in the fire to warm.

Astrid took the other blankets, unfolded them, and laid them atop Hiccup. He still shook, but not as hard as before. She pulled a stool over and sat down.

"How's he doing?" Snotlout said from the fire.

"He's still shivering," Astrid answered, "but not as hard as when we found him."

"Good. If he had stopped we'd have been too late."

Astrid turned to face him. "What is this?" she asked.

"If it has a name I don't know it; Jorgensens call it 'dying from the cold'." Snotlout nodded to Hiccup. "Hiccup has the early signs. If we'd found him any later than we did, we wouldn't have been able to warm him up."

Astrid watched as Snotlout removed the steaming kettle from the fire and rested it on the hearth. He grabbed a wooden mug, then poured the hot water into it and brought it around to the table.

Snotlout placed his hand beneath Hiccup's head as raised it. Hiccup groaned, but opened his eyes. Snotlout held the cup to Hiccup's lips. "Drink this. It'll make you feel warmer."

Astrid watched as Snotlout slowly fed Hiccup the steaming water until was gone, then laid his head back down. Shortly after, HIccup's breathing became even with sleep.

Snotlout sighed, pulled another chair over to the fire and sat down, staring into the flames.

Astrid looked back and forth betwixt Hiccup and Snotlout. "How many in your family have died from this?"

"Eight," Snotlout replied. He blinked back tears and swallowed. "Mostly my older cousins…some of the little ones…one of my aunts and my grandfather on my dad's side."

"I'm so sorry…"

"I've had it myself too. I didn't have it as bad as my cousins, but still…_knowing_ you can't get warm after a certain point…makes you think twice before going out into cold wet weather without a way to get dry. As much as I pride myself on my family's charge-ahead attitude, it's gotten us killed one too many times."

Astrid blushed before voicing, "You seemed…awfully comfortable…exposing Hiccup."

Snotlout faced her and gave her a look. "Two of my uncles prefer men. I caught them with their lovers a couple times and—"

Astrid waved her hand. "I don't need to know anymore, Snotlout."

"Hey, you asked."

The doors to the hall slid open, Fishlegs and Gothi stepped inside, drenched with rain.

"We're here!" Fishlegs said, wiping the rain from his face, "We came as fast as we could."

Gothi walked up to Hiccup and examined him, then turned to the other three.

_Who knew what to do?_ she wrote with her staff.

Snotlout stepped forward. "I did; Thor knows enough of my family's died from what he's got."

Gothi smiled, stepped forward and tapped Snotlout on the forehead. Snotlout beamed at the praise.

Gothi pulled back the blankets, and gasped at Hiccup's good leg. _How long has his leg been like this? _She scratched.

"Hours, at least," Astrid said, "We didn't find him until after dark."

Gothi sighed and shook her head, then gestured for Fishlegs and Snotlout to hold Hiccup down at the shoulders, and for Astrid to hold down his amputated leg. All three did as asked.

_I'm going to try to snap his knee back into place, but it's going to be very painful. I will have to splint it, hopefully it will heal properly._

The three teens nodded and braced themselves. Gothi felt around Hiccup's knee and placed her hands on either side. With one swift movement, Hiccup's knee snapped back into place with a loud crack.

Hiccup arched his back, a strangled scream escaped his lips, seconds later collapsing back onto the table.

Gothi leaned her head against his chest. _He lives_, she wrote, _But he will not wake until tomorrow._ She grabbed two boards of wood and bandages from the pack on her back and bound Hiccup's leg so that it remained straight, immovable. She gestured to Astrid. _You come with me; we're taking him back to Berk. _She gestured to the other teens. _Lift the table and bring him to the stable; keep him in this position. I want him at Berk so I can keep an eye on him._

"Yes, Gothi," the teens replied.

Soon, Stormfly had been re-saddled. Astrid and Gothi mounted Stormfly, and Hiccup lay still, asleep.

"Fishlegs, you're in charge until we get back."

"Yes, Astrid."

"Make sure to tell Toothless what happened; I'll send a Terror Mail as soon as I can." She turned to Snotlout. "Thank you…for saving him."

Snotlout's classic cocky grin spread across his face. "Told you I'm not completely useless."

Astrid chuckled, and urged Stormfly, Hiccup held tight in her claws. Rain spattered their faces as they sped through the night sky, back towards Berk.

The following evening, Astrid walked into Gothi's hut and over to Hiccup's bedside. He still slept, but he no longer shivered. She leaned her axe against the wall, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

She lifted her hand, and smoothed his hair out of his face. Hiccup stirred and opened his eyes.

"Astrid? You found me."

"We all did, thanks to Toothless' plasma blast."

Hiccup gave a weak chuckle. "I knew he'd come through." He reveled in the feeling of her hand in his hair. "Thanks for saving me."

"Actually, you should be thanking Snotlout."

Hiccup cocked an eyebrow. "Snotlout?"

Astrid nodded. "He's the one who saved your life. He knew what to do."

"What do you mean?"

Astrid glanced away at the memory of finding his ill and injured body huddled against the bare rock face. "You were dying from the cold," she said, her voice tight, "As it turns out, Snotlout's family has lost members from it; Snotlout's even had it himself." She chuckled to herself. "Never thought I'd say this, but I owe him."

Hiccup tensed. Snotlout wasn't usually practical…or controlled; especially when it came to life-threatening situations.

"What exactly did he do to save me?"

Astrid's cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. "He was very specific about how you were to be moved. He had me fly back to The Edge, boost the fire, and get warm blankets…" her cheeks deepened as she continued, "…and fresh clothes."

Hiccup sat up, wincing and hissing as pain shot through his leg. He looked into Astrid's face. "Please tell me I was _not_ naked in front of Snotlout."

Astrid cringed. "'Wet clothes have gotta come off,' he said. You had to be dry."

"Oh gods," Hiccup said. He sank back and covered his face, burning with shame. "I'm _never _going to live this down."

Astrid touched his shoulder in sympathy. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't see anything."

"I would have preferred it if you had—" he dropped his hands and looked into her face, "Wait, you _helped_?"

"I did the top half."

Deep red returned to Hiccup's face. "Oh, _great!_" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, and letting them plop back down, "The _last_ person I _ever_ wanted to see that part of me—which was _never_ in _any_ situation by the way—apparently had _no_ problem exposing me? For the _entire_ Edge to see?!"

"It was just he and I," Astrid explained, "Fishlegs was on his way to get Gothi, and the Twins were rigging a sling so they could bring Toothless back."

Hiccup snapped to attention at the mention of his best friend. "Oh my gods, Toothless! He doesn't have his tail—!"

Astrid put out her hands to calm him down. "He's okay," she assured him. "I got a Terror Mail from the Twins this morning. They arrived at the Edge shortly after you and I left with Gothi, last night." She smiled. "He's been giving them hell all day, sulking."

Hiccup chuckled, then sank his head into his hands at the embarrassment at hand.

"I guess I should be grateful I was unconscious for the whole ordeal."

Astrid laid her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it with her thumb. "Well, if he says anything, I'll kick his ass; and he _knows_ I have no problem doing that."

Hiccup raised his head and smiled at her. "Thanks, Astrid."

She leaned in and kissed him, his lips soft against hers, and he kissed her back.

"No problem," she said, "I'll always have your back."


End file.
